Senegalese Wrestling
Senegal'"'"'s national sport in two forms: plain wrestling and wrestling with strikes. You win by putting the opponent on his back, side or both hands.
Quick Facts
SenegalCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Senegalese Wrestling
About Senegalese Wrestling
Laamb is Senegalese wrestling and at the same time the national sport of the country. It has no founder and no documented year of origin; the roots are traced to the Serer people, among whom wrestling served as preparation for war, and the term njom itself derives from the Serer concept of jom, heart and honour. The earliest wrestler recorded by name is Boukar Djilak Faye, of the fourteenth century in the Kingdom of Sine — evidence that the custom existed, not a date for its beginning. There are two forms. Lutte simple, known locally as mbapatt, is plain wrestling without strikes and is the version contested internationally; lutte avec frappe permits hand strikes and is the variant Senegalese audiences know from the big bouts. The aim is to put the opponent down so that he touches the ground with his back, his side or both hands, typically by lifting and turning him over. A bout is preceded by ceremonial preparation, which matters to laamb as much as the fight itself. The wrestler delivers a bàkk, a spoken and sung self-praise whose purpose is to command respect from opponent and crowd alike; protective charms and rituals before entering the arena belong to it as well. Since the 1950s laamb has become a major spectacle and cultural event. The sport is governed by the Comité National de Gestion de la Lutte, and top wrestlers such as Yékini, Tyson, Bombardier and Balla Gaye 2 are national stars whose earnings and television presence match those of footballers. In recent years MMA has become a competitor, drawing wrestlers away with higher purses.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.